18642143 Challenges Faced by the Muslilm Ummah in the 21st Centuary

8/2/2019 18642143 Challenges Faced by the Muslilm Ummah in the 21st Centuary

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SUBJECT:ISLAMIC STUDIES 2

PROJECT ON:

CHALLENGES FACED BY THE MUSLILM UMMAH INTHE 21ST CENTUARY.

PRESENTED TO:SIR AFTAB AHMED

PRESENTED BY:MUHAMMAD KHALIL HUSSAIN

MUHAMMAD FAROOQZUBAIR ABDULLAH KHAN NIAZI

(MBA 19 b)

INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITYISLAMABAD


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What is Islam?

Islam is not a new religion, but the same truth that Allah revealed throughall His Prophets to every people. For a fifth of the world's population, Islamis both a religion and a complete way of life. Muslims follow a religion of

peace, mercy, and forgiveness, and the majority have nothing to do withthe extremely grave events, which have come to he associated with their

faith through a biased media.

CHALLENGES FACED BY THE MUSLILM UMMAH IN THE

21ST

CENTUARY.

1) Muslim Unity and SolidarityMuslims all over the world are bound together, in heart and in spirit. This

unity is the means of strength for the Muslim Ummah; in fact, it's a divine giftthat we Muslims must make use of. This unity is also required as regardsrelationship between Muslims and non-Muslims, in the sense that we are allbrothers, if not in faith, in humanity. Just as a Muslim shares the agony of hisfellow Muslims, he should also feel pain for what befalls his non-Muslimbrothers. In reaction to the present sorry state of affairs of the Muslim Ummah,

it's very important for Muslims to stand together and be united. We should livetogether as a group respecting and caring for each other. Allah gave us our livesso that we can help one another, and not to live just for ourselves.

It's quite important for us also to realize the significance of unity andtogetherness. Someone may ask, why is it so important to unite? The answer isvery simple: Together we are strong! As one Ummah, we are a powerful force.This is certainly what the enemies of Islam dread most. With unity, mutualcooperation will materialize. With unity, love and affection will prevail in thesociety. most importantly, Muslims will cease to be an easy prey for theirenemies, as is the case nowadays.

Unity was the driving force behind the mechanism of forming the first

Islamic State in Medina. It helped the early Muslims gain victory in all theirbattles against disbelievers, hence putting an end to injustice and aggression. Sowhat more do the present Muslims need to wake up from their sleep? They needto rise up to the present challenges facing them. It's not enough for someone toclaim that his cause is right, without having enough power to defend that cause;and a voice in isolation is always inaudible. So Muslims should get together andstrive in the cause of Allah, Who says in the Qur'an:


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[And the believers, men and women, are protecting friends oneof another; they enjoin the right and forbid the wrong, and theykeep up the prayer and they pay the poor-due, and they obey Allahand His messenger. As for these, Allah will have mercy on them. Lo!

Allah is Mighty, Wise](At-Taw bah 9:71).

One form of unity is to respond to the present situation of our Palestinianbrothers and sisters, with whom all Muslims should express feelings of solidarity. All Muslims should do whatever is in their capacity to help the Palestinianbrothers and sisters. Helping and supporting fellow Muslims who are persecutedand prejudiced against is a prerequisite of a sound faith.

Muslims should first help and support their fellow Muslims physically ifthey are able to do so. Muslims should defend them by all available means. Theyshould fight along with them to ward off any aggression against their souls,honor, and so on.

If one cannot support them physically, one should help them financially. Ifone finds that unaffordable, one should support their cause by means of speech,publicizing their rights and making people realize their agony and feel their pain.

Finally, if one cannot defend one's brothers and sisters by means of thetongue or pen, let deny the aggression committed against them. This level is theleast of faith.

TECHNOLGY CHALLENGESAnother challenge faced by Muslim Ummah is, the lack of the technology.

Most of the Muslim countries are backward because there is no technology toutilize the available resources and illiteracy is very common. That is whyproduction rate in the Muslim country is very low, we can take the example of the

Pakistan is the an agriculture country and 64% population depend on this fieldbut our production is enough for the population, now a days the main crises face by Pakistan is flour that is reason for the shortage is the old method of theproduction in the most areas of the Pakistan,in which production rate is very low.There many mineral in the Muslims countries but there is no Tec logy to put outthese precious recourses from the land and the mountain .There are manyexample in front of us like Saudi Arabia and the Qwait there are many oilrecourses which now a days called Black Gold these both Muslim country hasno their own technology to take out oil from the land and there are manyAmerican companies that are taking out oil. They are taking20% oil for this task;to overcome this problem modern technological education is very necessary.

2) ECONOMIC CHALLENGES

Introduction

In many challenges an other challenge is the Economic challenge, if anynation is economically strong it can face many issue easly like Europeancountries. With the kindness of ALLAH there are many resources in the Muslim


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countries but the recourses are not fully utilized or giving the benefit to the someMuslim countries like oil.

The nineteenth century was a century of political oppression whereby the

powerful Western nations enslaved most of the Asian and African nationsincluding a large number of Muslim countries. The present century, which isnearing its end, has witnessed the gradual independence of these countries fromWestern imperialism. However, despite our apparent success in achieving thegoal of political liberty, we could not succeed in acquiring independence onintellectual, economic and strategic levels. That is why Muslim Ummah could notyet reap the fruits of its political freedom.

Now the Muslim world is looking toward the coming century with hopethat it will bring for it total independence in the real sense so the Muslims mayfind their due place among the nations of the world and may be free to live

according to the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet, Sall-Allahu alayhi wasallam.

However, this hope cannot be realized through wishful dreams. We willhave to work hard for our total freedom even more than we did for our politicalfreedom. We need a total revision of our strategy, a well-considered plan, acollective resolution, and a revolutionary approach. In this paper, I would like toconfine myself to two major issues.

1. Dependency:

It is common knowledge that Ummah's basic economic problem is thedependence of the Muslim countries on other non-Muslim countries. Most ofthe them are borrowing huge amounts from the rich Western countries. Somecountries are incurring these heavy interest-bearing loans not only for thedevelopment projects, but also for their day-to-day expenses, and what ismore serious, for the payment of interest accrued on their previous loanswhich keeps the size of their indebtedness ever-increasing through a viciouscircle.

2. Too much loan:

Dependency on foreign loans is the basic disease of our economy that hasnot only shattered our economic life, but has also devastated our self-determination and has forced us to submit to the demands of our creditors,sometimes, at the price of our collective interests. It is no secret that thecreditors impose their own conditions before they advance a loan. Theseconditions keep us under a constant foreign pressure, often stop us frompursuing our own objectives and force us to follow the policies dictated by


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others. The evil consequences of dependence on foreign loans are too obviousto need any further elaboration.

Islamic teachings consider "Indebtedness" as a detestable

phenomenon, which should not be resorted to except in cases of extremenecessity. The Prophet, Salla-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, even refused tooffer the funeral prayer for a person who died before paying back hisloan.

Moreover, the Muslim jurists have discussed whether it is lawful forthe ruler of a Muslim State to accept the gifts offered by a non-Muslim.The answer: It is lawful only where the acceptance of gifts does not resultin any kind of pressure against the interest of the Ummah.

Islamic principles require that the Muslims should avoid incurring

foreign debts, even if they face some hardships. But our presentindebtedness was not created by lack of resources. In fact, the Muslimshave never been so resource-rich. They own enormous natural resources.They occupy important strategic positions on the globe. They are joinedtogether by a geographical chain from Morocco to Indonesia, broken onlyby India and Israel. They produce nearly 50% of the oil of the world. Theyare said to account for more than one third of the world's export of rawmaterial. What is more, the cash they have invested in the westerncountries alone may be more than sufficient to set off their total liabilities.

According to a recent report of Islamic Development Bank, the total

external debt of the IDB member countries in 1996 amounted to 618.8billion dollars. The deposits and assets kept by the Muslims in the Westerncountries are said to be much more than this amount. Obviously, there isno authentic record of such deposits, because their owners do not disclosethem. However, the economic experts have estimated them to be between800 and 1000 billion dollars, out of which 250 billions are said to be takenback by the Arabs to their own countries after the Gulf War. Practically itmeans that we are borrowing a part of our own money at a high rate ofinterest.

Even if these estimated figures are taken to be greater one can

hardly deny the fact that had these huge amounts been kept and properlyused within the Muslim world, the Ummah would have never resorted toincur the debt of more than six hundred billion dollars.

Our dependence on foreign loans is self-imposed for which wecannot blame anyone but ourselves. We did never probe in to the factorsunderlying the flight of our capital. We did never try to remove thosefactors and instill confidence in our own people. We could not deliver


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ourselves from the corrupt and oppressive system of taxation. We were notable to create a peaceful atmosphere for investment. We could not provideour countries with stable political system. We did not bother to createopportunities for the sound utilization of capital and, above all, we failed

to mobilize the spirit of Islamic unity and to activate the strength of theMuslim Ummah as a whole. The tragic situation cannot be corrected byexpensive celebrations at the advent of the new century. We will have totake the challenge of time seriously. Our economic and political leadershipwill have to find ways and means to free ourselves from dependence onforeign countries. We already have the basic resources for that. All we needis to design new policies to utilize the wealth of the Ummah within theMuslim world, and to develop the concept of Islamic brotherhood andmutual understanding and cooperation.

The Allah says in Holy Quran: "All the Muslims are brothers."

Quranic injunctions and the Prophetic teachings require that the MuslimUmmah should act as a single body. The geographical barriers should notdivide them into different nations with conflicting objectives. The politicalboundaries may only be tolerated for the internal administrative affairs ofeach country, but all the Muslim countries must have a united face at leastwith reference to the common objectives of the Muslim Ummah vis--visthe rest of the world.

Gone are the days when technical know-how was the monopoly of afew Western countries. Now, the Muslim talent is capable of at leasthandling the immediate requirements of the Ummah. What we need is to

seek this talent, and to put it to the service of this Ummah with amissionary zeal.

But all this requires the unified efforts from the leadership of ourcountries. This is the biggest challenge faced by them. They must meet it,not only for the betterment of the Ummah, but for their own survival. Agreat responsibility, in this respect, lies on the shoulders of OIC, whichshould take the initiative and create a Muslim talent pool to design newpolicies for the Ummah as a joint body.

3. Restricting our Economic Systems

The twentieth century has witnessed the rise of communism, the conflictbetween capitalist and communist countries and lastly the fall of communism.The capitalist Western countries are celebrating the fall of communism as if itwas an empirical evidence of their own victory, not only on a political frontbut also on ideological plane. The fact is, however, that communism was based on an emotional reaction against some evil consequences of thecapitalist economy, specially, against the element of inequitable distribution


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of wealth, which has been experienced in the capitalist countries throughoutthe centuries. The failure of communism was not due to its justified criticismof the evils of capitalism. Rather it was caused by the inherent defects of thealternative system suggested by it. The capitalist economies still suffer from

inequities in the distribution of wealth. There is still a large gap between thehaves and the have-nots and 'poverty in the midst of plenty' is still the majorproblem of their economy. These are the real problems created by capitalismand unless they are satisfactorily solved, it may give birth to another reactionthat may be more aggressive than communism.

The world, therefore, is badly in need of a Third Economic System. TheMuslim Ummah can work out this system based on the Islamic norms. Theeconomic principles taught by the Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet (Sall- Allahu alayhi wa sallam) are quite capable of solving the major economicproblems faced by the world today. While they allow private ownership and

market economy, they also provide a well considered system of distributivejustice, which may eliminate the inequities and bring about a system in whichprofit motive works with the collective interest of the society. The basic faultof communism was that, frustrated with the inequity of capitalism, it assailedthe very institutions of private ownership and market forces and developed autopian idea of planned economy which was unnatural, artificial andoppressive. The denial of individual liberty curtailed the zeal for productionand the wide powers of the state left the destiny of the people in the hands ofthe ruling class.

It was neither private ownership nor the institution of market forces that

was the basic cause of injustice in the capitalist system. The basic factor forcreating inequities in the capitalist countries was the absence of a criterion todifferentiate between just and unjust earnings. The instruments of interest,gambling, speculative transactions and the tools of exploiting immoral desiresof the consumers to secure huge profits were allowed, which tend to createmonopolies and in turn paralyze the forces of demand and supply or at leastobstruct their operation. It is thus ironical that the capitalist ftheory on theone hand asserts the principles of lassiez-faire but, on the other, by allowingthe aforesaid instruments, interferes with their natural function and stops themarket forces from playing their due role by creating monopolies that imposetheir arbitrary decisions on the bulk of the common people.

The system of interest favors the rich industrialists who benefit from thewealth of the common people who deposit their savings in the bank, and aftermaking huge profits do not allow the common people to share these profitsexcept to the extent of a fixed rate of interest that is again taken back by themas it is charged to the cost of production. At macro level, it means that theserich people always use the money of depositors for their own benefit and inreality pay nothing to them because the interest payments are always added to


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the cost of production. Similarly, gambling is a major instrument forconcentrating the wealth of thousands of men in a few hands and forpromoting the disastrous motive of greed for the unearned income. Thespeculative transactions are also a major source of disturbing the natural

market operations and contribute to the inequities in the distribution ofwealth.

Islam not only allows the market forces but also provides mechanism tokeep them operative with their natural force without their being hindered bymonopolies. It applies two types of controls on the economic activities.

First, it subjects the process of earning to certain divine injunctions, whichclearly define the limits of halal and haram. These injunctions tend to preventmonopolies and curb the unjust and immoral earnings and commercialactivities detrimental to the collective interest of the society. In the context of

modern economic needs where the savings of the common people areactivated to boost development, the use of the Islamic instruments likemusharakah and mudarabah, instead of interest, may make the commonpeople directly share the fruits of development which may bring prosperity ina balanced manner reducing the gap between the rich and the poor.

Second, the institution of zakat, sadaqat, and certain other financialobligations provide that even the halal income is again distributed to thepersons who could not earn enough due to insufficient market opportunities.Through the twin controls, the wealth is kept under constant circulation andthe chances of its concentration are almost eliminated.

4. Negligence of the Islamic economic system

But our main tragedy is that the principles of Islamic economy are still intheoretical form for which no living example is available. The Muslimcountries have not tried to structure their economy on Islamic basis. Most ofthem are still following the capitalist system and that too in a half-bakedmanner, which has made the economic atmosphere much worse than that ofthe developed capitalist countries. Unfortunately, despite having the clear cutIslamic injunctions, the inequities existing in Muslim countries are far moresevere than in the Western world.

This tragic situation cannot last forever. If we are not prepared to mendour ways, some natural process of revolution is bound to find its way. If we want to avoid disastrous consequences of such revolution, we'll have torestructure our economic system on the basis of clear guidance provided bythe Qur'an and Sunnah. Our success in setting an example for implementingthe Islamic principles will be our best gift to the human fraternity at theadvent of the new century. I hope that if the principles of Islamic economy are


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implemented sincerely, we'll find the world more receptive to them today thanwe experienced it in the past.

3) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CHALLAGES

Introduction

The information technology (IT) revolution has taken the world by storm.Many Muslim scholars, scientists and intellectuals have joined the bandwagon inextolling its merits and virtues. Evidence of the eagerness on the part of someMuslims to embrace such technology, has been the proliferation of Islamic siteson the Internet, some devoted to Islamic education and propagation, others beingof a more commercial nature. Further evidence of Muslim interest in IT is thegrowing number of workshops, seminars, and conferences devoted to the issue,as well as the establishment of IT centres throughout the Muslim world. For

example, in the past few years, the Organization of Islamic Conference StandingCommittee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH), hasestablished four Centres for IT and Computer Science in Cameroon, Senegal,Pakistan and Syria (soon to be opened). Even governments are bracingthemselves for the wave of the future.

In contrast to the above, Muslim scholars, scientists, intellectuals, politicalleaders, etc., other Muslim scholars have been more hesitant in accepting the ITrevolution. Members of this group warn about its possible ill effects on Muslimyouth and society in general. Particularly in the Islamic fields, one finds manyscholars reluctant to use such technology, even for research and academic

purposes, despite having access to such facilities. What are some of the barriersthat such scholars face in accepting and utilizing such technology? What are someof their concerns and to what extent are such concerns legitimate from an Islamicpoint of view?

Still another group of Muslims recognises that in spite of some negativeside-effects, there are some very positive benefits to be gained via the use of IT, inthe Muslim world. In this respect, a number of conferences and seminars havebegun to address the 'Islamicity' of IT, as well as how Muslims can use IT tofurther their own goals and purposes.

This article seeks to address some of the above positions and issues in theIslamic world, in an effort to determine the extent to which such technology canbe considered Islamic or un-Islamic, as defined by the Holy Qur'an and sunnah(traditions) of the Prophet Muhammad. It will also discuss some of the benefits, barriers and concerns of Muslim societies in general and Muslim scholars inparticular, in accepting and utilising IT. Finally, a number of recommendationswill be made on how some of these barriers and concerns can be overcome.


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Perspective of the Quran and Sunnah on IT

Prior to delving into the Islamic perspective on the issue, it is best tocommence with a proper definition of what is meant by Information Technology

(IT) (in Arabic ilm al-ma'lumat al-tiqaniyyah). IT is essentially a compositeword derived from the words 'information' and 'technology'. Webster's UniversalCollege Dictionary (1997) defines information as 'knowledge communicated orreceived concerning a particular fact or circumstance' or 'knowledge gainedthrough study, communication, research, instruction etc.' (p. 419). Technology onthe other hand is defined as 'the science of the application of knowledge topractical purposes'. Juxtaposed together, the two terms have come to refer to 'theuse of computers and telecommunications for the processing and distribution ofinformation in digital, audio, video, and other forms' (Morris, 1992, p. 1107).

The first thought which probably crosses the minds of those unfamiliar

with Islam, is what possible relationship could there be between IT, as definedabove, and a book revealed 1400 years ago (i.e., the Holy Quran)? Perhaps it is best to state the obvious. The Quran is neither a scientific text-book, nor atechnological 'how-to' manual. Instead it is a book of guidance, which containsgeneral principles applicable to all times and places. Quranic principles andguidance pertain to all spheres of life, the scientific sphere being no exceptionand by analogy the domain of IT.

As seen above, there is a direct link between IT and the acquisition ofknowledge. It is here that the relationship between the Quran and IT lies inIslam. The importance of seeking and acquiring both revealed and human

investigated knowledge was stressed from the very first revelation,

"Read in the name of your Lord, who created, created man from a clot"(Quran:96: 1-2).

The tremendous value Islam attaches to the acquisition of knowledge isemphasised in numerous other verses as well. For example, the Quran makes aclear distinction between those who possess knowledge and those who do not(Quran: 39: 9). In addition, humans are encouraged to ask Allah to help themincrease their knowledge (Quran 20: 114). In fact, many Muslim scholarsconsider the search for knowledge as an act ofibadah (worship), as long as the

seeker is sincere in his/her pursuit and pursues such knowledge with theintention of pleasing Allah.

Generally speaking, the Islamic tradition has classified knowledge into twocategories. The first kind of knowledge is that given by God to man via revelation.This type of knowledge is regarded as the highest form of knowledge andconsequently is made obligatory on every Muslim to learn, understand andimplement. The second form of knowledge is that acquired by humans through


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rational inquiry based on experiments and observation (al-Attas, 1978, p. 74). Itis in this latter category that the field of IT lies.

In the early Islamic period, Muslims attached great importance to

collecting, storing and preserving both the Quran and Prophetic traditions forfuture generations. By analogy, it holds that Muslims should employ whatevermeans are available today to access information, store, process and distributetheir heritage, ideas etc. In this respect, IT is simply a means to an end. Whilethere is nothing in the Quran and sunnah which clearly prohibits Muslims fromdeveloping and utilising IT for their own needs, like all technology, IT can beemployed for both positive and negative ends. It is up to humans to decide whichend they will use it for.

Allah (swt) has given humans revealed guidance endowed them withreason and subsequently held them accountable for all their actions. Ultimately,

they will be judged by their intentions, since the Prophet Muhammad has stated,'the reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get thereward according to what he (or she) has intended' (Bukhari).

The extent to which IT falls within the legal parameters or spirit of theshariah (Islamic law) and takes into consideration public interest, ecologicalbalance, social justice etc., can be considered halal (permissible) and desirable.Conversely, the extent to which IT goes beyond the boundaries or spirit of theshariah and promotes alienation, excessive consumerism, environmentaldestruction, concentration of wealth in fewer and fewer hands and/or bringsMuslims away from Islam, it is considered haram (not permissible).

Benefits of IT:

Undoubtedly, the greatest benefit to be gained by Muslim societies andMuslim scholars from the use of IT, particularly the Internet, is information ingeneral and Islamic knowledge in particular. The Internet contains a wealth ofinformation on all kinds that users can access quickly and easily. Much of thisinformation can be highly beneficial to Muslim societies and scholars. Forexample, reference material such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesaurus, books, journals etc. are easily available on-line, thereby greatly facilitating aresearcher's task. In addition, a variety of distance learning programs offered by

various institutions of higher learning can also be accessed on-line.

As far as Islamic knowledge and information is concerned, there are aplethora of sites catering to all kinds of needs. For example, IslamiCity(www.islam.org) 'leverages electronic, information and communicationstechnologies to provide the most comprehensive resources and information froman Islamic and Muslim perspective to a worldwide audience'. Alim(www.alim.org) includes 'material that every Muslim needs to learn about Islam,


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the Quran and Hadith' (www.kol.org, p.3). Al-Islam (www.al-islam.org) is a ShiaMuslim (an Islamic sect) site devoted to disseminating both religious teachings.

IT has enabled Muslims all over the world to access Quranic recitations,

translations, and tafsir (exegesis), books of Hadith, fiqh (jurisprudence), juridicalopinions etc. in various languages online and on CDs in both audio and videoformat (Mariun, Salleh, & Zaki, 1996, p. 866). For example, Harf InformationTechnology (www.harf.com) has developed Islamic materials on electronic mediasuch as the Holy Quran with its most famous interpretations and more than62,000 Prophetic hadiths with related commentaries and studies. It has alsomade accessible many classical books of Islamic jurisprudence on itsEncyclopedia of Islamic Jurisprudence, which contains 750,000 printed pages.

Due to Islamic sites such as those mentioned above and CDs containingpre-existing juridical opinions and proofs of all the legal schools of Islamic

jurisprudence on a variety of topics, IT has the potential of considerablyfacilitating the job of shariah (Islamic law) specialists, by enabling them togenerate legal decisions much quicker than in the past.

The ulama (traditional religious scholars) are not the only ones to benefitfrom easy accessibility to classical Islamic sources of knowledge. Students ofIslamic studies are also able to conduct research on a wide variety of Islamictopics, unrestricted by past limitations such as inadequate library resources orprohibitive costs. In this respect, Abdul Kadir Barkatullah, Director of London'sIslamic Computing Centre argues that the availability of classical Islamic textsand commentaries both on CDs and on-line has had a tremendous impact on

Muslims whose access to religious scholars is limited (i.e. those living in minoritysituations), since it enables such Muslims to verify the things they hear (i.e.concerning Islam) for themselves (Mandaville, 1999).

The internet also serves as a notice board for the ummah (global Muslimcommunity), providing information about Islamic organisations, places of worship, academic institutions specialising in Islam, student organisations,conferences, seminars, up-coming community events, entertainment, etc. Inaddition, there are programs that inform Muslims of the time of prayer anddirection of the kibla for almost every major city in the world, Islamic arts,calligraphy, architecture and designs, and traditional Islamic music.

A second related benefit of IT, is that it is a powerful tool for dawah(Islamic propagation) or conveying the message of Islam to others. In the HolyQuran, Allah states, 'invite (all) to the way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautifulpreaching' (16:125). Accordingly, Muslims are enjoined to use wise methods andappealing means to convey the message of Islam. In the 21st century, the Internethas emerged as the most cost-effective means of presenting knowledge,


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information and news to millions of people in accordance with the above Quranicinjunction (Khan & Khan, 1999).

Thirdly, the internet is a valuable instrument for networking and

exchanging ideas with both Muslims and non-Muslims. Traditionally, the Muslimworld has been comprised of a variety of groups and communities and shaped byethno-cultural, geographic and linguistic forces. Sometimes these relativelyhomogenous groups have evolved unique ways of thinking about Islam, often atvariance with one another (Norman, Salleh, & Zaki, 1996, p. 867). IT is playing aninvaluable role in breaking down ethnic, racial and geographical borders, byenabling Muslims from across the ummah to exchange ideas, network, anddiscuss their various views and positions on different aspects of Islam. In thisrespect, IT is serving to fulfill the commandment of Allah to 'know one another'(Quran: 49:13).

IT can, not only, foster a truly international Islamic brother/sisterhood,but chat rooms, discussion forms, question and answer sessions etc. may serve aspowerful mechanisms for generating new understandings or formulations of oldproblems and/or new solutions to new problems facing the Muslim ummah. TheInternet is becoming a powerful organising tool for various Muslim politicalinterest groups. For example, CAIR (www.cair-net.org) does legal advocacy workon behalf of the Muslim Community in North America.

Although some discussion and chat sessions have been hijacked byideological fanatics, such forums can nurture greater tolerance among Muslims.Furthermore, such interactions can elicit participation from shy or withdrawn

scholars who would not speak up in a face-to-face forum. The participation ofnon-Muslims in such forums demonstrates the role of IT as a tool for inter-faithdialogues and debate.

Ulama and religious scholars can also benefit from such technology.Traditionally, when Islamic scholars wanted to come to a consensus on aparticular legal issue, the slow nature of communication and transportation madeit a time-consuming process. Today, however, with the advent of e-mail, voice-mail, fax, video-conferencing, Internet, chat rooms, net-phone programs, virtualreality systems, etc., Islamic scholars located in different parts of the ummah cancome together relatively easily and inexpensively to discuss and debate problems

and challenges affecting the Muslim community.

The speed and convenience with which Islamic scholars can communicateand convey information, allows scholars to have greater feedback on proposals,drafts of work in progress etc. It also facilitates the ease with which they cancommunicate and transmit books, articles, reviews etc. for publication, toacademic journals and publishers.


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A fourth benefit of IT, which has tremendous growth potential for Muslimcommunities and societies, is e-commerce. According to Abdul Aleem (1999), thePresident of IslamiCity in Cyberspace, the amount of e-commerce on the internetis predicted to reach 1.3 trillion (US dollars) by 2003. A number of Islamic

companies have taken up the e-commerce challenge and entered the fray. Suchcompanies include Iqra Islamic Publications (www.iqra.org) that focuses mainlyon publishing and marketing Islamic educational material, in both Arabic andEnglish, for children of various ages. SoundVision (www.soundvision.com) and Astrolab (www.astrolabepictures.com) are also involved in marketing Islamicbooks, videos, compact discs, audio tapes, etc.

Barriers Faced by Muslim Societies and Islamic Scholars in AcceptingIT

Considering the numerous benefits IT offers to Muslims, why is it that so

few Muslim countries are developing an indigenous IT capacity? Morespecifically, why are scholars in varieties of disciplines not making better use ofsuch technology?

One of the biggest barriers facing Muslims societies in utilising IT, is thehigh rate of illiteracy, which presently exists in many Muslim countries. Althoughilliteracy in the Muslim world, varies from country to country, on average morethan 70% of Muslims today are illiterate (Zubairi, 1981). Unless such rates aredrastically improved, it will be very difficult to promote the widespread use ofelectronic communications.

Although Muslim scholars in Islamic disciplines are literate, many lackcomputer literacy and expertise in IT, which hinders their ability to utilise suchtechnology. Although the development of software has eased access toinformation, many ulama do not possess the technical know-how to develop andmaintain the technology they are using. This can be a major deterrent for suchscholars, who may become frustrated with such technology. The lack of computerliteracy and technical expertise among scholars in the Islamic disciplines,frequently affects their attitude towards IT, which in turn has a domino effect onthe attitude of other Muslims towards technology.

Language can also serve as a barrier for accessing and utilising IT. While

some technologies including fax, voice-mail, net-phone, audio and video CDs canbe used regardless of language, other technologies such as the Internet requiresome knowledge of English to be able to truly benefit from the technology or atthe minimal access sites in other languages. Unfortunately, at the present 'noneof the major Muslim languages plays a major role in this huge knowledgemachine' (Anees, 2000, p. 2).


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The problems of literacy, technical expertise, attitude and language areconnected to the kind of education many Islamic scholars are receiving. Manyscholars in Islamic disciplines are graduates of traditional religious schools thathave focused on memorising of the Quran, Hadith, basic Islamic rituals, rather

than applications of such knowledge to meet the changing and growing needs ofMuslim societies. Traditionally, such schools have placed little emphasis onscientific and technological education. Throughout the 20th century however,these schools have increasingly come under attack for not producing graduatescapable of responding to the changing needs of the Muslim ummah. Theirexcessive focus on memorisation, rather than understanding, applications andproblem solving, has also come under fire, particularly now that the Quran, booksof hadith, fiqh (jurisprudence), tafsir (exegesis) are easily available in CD formator on-line.

At the tertiary level, students in the Islamic disciplines hardly fare better

than their primary and secondary school counter-parts, in terms of theirexposure to IT. Many are trained in Quran, sunnah, Islamic history, law, jurisprudence (fiqh) etc. and have had little exposure to modern sciences,philosophy and languages. Due to the scarcity of resources, many Faculties ofIslamic Studies lack the physical infrastructure to support computer literacy andIT training. As a result, students of the Islamic disciplines often play secondfiddle to those in the scientific and technical spheres in acquiring such facilities.

The fact that many ulama graduated from institutions of higher learning without the benefit of computers, and have functioned for most of theirprofessional careers without computers, has made many skeptical about the role

and value of computers in Islamic education. Some perceive IT to be a product ofsecularisation, and therefore opposed to religion. In their views, the Qurancontains all knowledge, as such 'it is not necessary to seek knowledge from othersources' (Ali K., 1996, p. 532). As we have seen above however, this is anerroneous view, since in addition to revealed guidance, humans are endowedwith reason and commanded to use their talents to come up with solutions to thedifficulties they encounter. Other ulama continue to debate the utility of IT in theorganisation of religious knowledge (Mandaville, 1999).

In spite of the above, there have been some efforts to improve the ITliteracy of students in the Islamic disciplines. Abdul Kadir Barkatulla states that

traditional centers of Islamic learning (such as al-Azhar in Cairo and Qom inIran) are forced to respond to opportunities offered by IT, due to competitionfrom more modern religious universities. He further states that nowadays there isalmost a race to digitise Islam, among leading centers around the world(Mandaville, 1999). For example, al-Azhar University of Cairo has its own homepage devoted to addressing various Islamic issues (www.alazhr.org), in bothEnglish and Arabic languages. The Centre for Islamic Jurisprudence in Qom,Iran, has converted several thousand Sunni and Shia texts to electronic form


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(Mandaville, 1999), while the International Islamic University in Malaysia is alsomaking strides to produce graduates in the Islamic disciplines, who possess ITknowledge and skills as well.

Another barrier to accessing and utilising IT is a lack of financialresources. Muslim countries are among some of the poorest in the world. Even inthose countries, which have high rates of GDP, there is no equitable distributionof resources. Although some argue that one of the merits of IT (particularly theInternet) is its low economic cost, for many individuals in the developing world(of which Muslim countries are part), such costs are relatively high. Theacquisition of hardware, development of software, provision of training,maintenance, upgrading and R & D, requires an extensive outlay financial capital, which many debt-ridden Muslim countries simply cannot afford. As a result,access to such technology is still very much limited to those in upper socio-economic income brackets.

Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman argues that there is a growing boundary in theIslamic world 'between the haves and have-nots, between those who claim tohave knowledge and those who possess money' (Ref. interview). This view is alsoheld by Bruce Lawrence, who states that IT serves to 'reinforce global capitaliststructures and asymmetries' and further the 'marginalisation of the alreadymarginal (p. 3). In light of such predictions, Muslims living in Africa and Asia,will be among the least likely of its beneficiaries.

Concerns of Islamic Scholars About Accepting IT:

One major concern some Islamic scholars have regarding the use of IT, isthat the relatively easy accessibility to information (i.e., Islamic CDs, web sites,discussion groups, etc.), is leading to the breakdown of traditional hierarchicalbarriers that have previously existed between them and the general masses.According to Sa'ad al-Faqih of the London based 'Movement for Islamic Reformin Arabia', IT goes a long way to bridging the 'knowledge gap' between an alim(religious scholar) and a lay Muslim by placing all relevant texts at the fingertipsof the latter (Mandaville, 1999).

Many scholars in the Islamic disciplines defend their position, by arguingthat 'not all information in this era of globalisation leads to knowledge and not all

knowledge gives birth to wisdom' (Muzaffar, 1997, p. vi). To some extent theirposition is justified since most sites on the Internet are commercially oriented,with academic and Islamic sites, comprising a very small minority. Moreover, dueto the anonymous nature of such technology, the reliability and authenticity ofinformation must always be subject to scrutiny. With hundreds of sites dealingwith Islam, Muslims, etc. it is difficult for cyber visitors to distinguish betweengenuine Islamic sites and those with more sinister motives.


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For example, while Muslims can now receive religious pronouncementsvia the various e-mail fatwa services which have sprung up in recent months, theycan never be sure whether the authoritative advice received via these services iscoming from a classically-trained religious scholar or an electrical engineer

moonlighting as an amateur alim (Mansaville, 1999). Khan and Khan (1999) addthat there have been cases of fabricated verses of Quran and Hadith put on theInternet by questionable sources. Moreover, fringe or 'deviationist' Muslimorganisations such as the Ahmadiyas and Rashid Khalifa's spend lots of time andmoney promoting their various search engines and new organisations. Ahmad(1999) states that although these sites are littered with false deceptions, they arewell designed and present their views in a professional manner.

Due to the above, some Islamic scholars fear that IT will lead someMuslims away from the straight path (i.e., of Islam), by exposing them to allkinds of deviationist or misinformation about Islam, as well as immoralities and

obscenities, in general. Moreover, it may prevent some computer addictedMuslim personalities from fulfilling their religious obligations (i.e. praying ontime etc.). Advocates of this view argue that IT falls into a gray area, which isbetter to be avoided. They support their argument with the following prophetichadith:

'Both legal and illegal things are evident but in between them there are doubtful(suspicious) things and most of the people have no knowledge about them. Sowhoever saves himself from these suspicious things saves his religion and hishonor. '[Bukhari, Vol. 1, 49]

Another concern many Muslims have about using IT, is the fact that theyare passive consumers of a technology created elsewhere, which is hardly value-free. IT's close connection and integration with western/Japanese culture, can bethreatening for some Muslim societies, who fear another onslaught of Westernisation, under the pretext of globalization. In this respect, Muzaffar(1997) argues that 'the religious vision of humankind has very little in commonwith the motives and goals of globalization' (p. i).

Recommendations and Conclusions

Although the list of barriers and concerns faced by Muslim societies in

general and scholars in the Islamic disciplines in particular can go on and on, todo so would merely serve defeatism. Since IT has numerous benefits andopportunities for Islamic scholars and there is nothing in the Quran and sunnahwhich blatantly prevents Muslims from utilising and developing such technology(other than general guidelines), this latter part of the article will examine some ofthe ways the aforementioned barriers and concerns can be alleviated, in order toassist Islamic scholars in enhancing their IT proficiency, in the 21st century.


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First and foremost, it becomes clear that many of the barriers andconcerns faced by Islamic scholars, stem from the inadequacy of the educationalprocess. One almost hesitates to recommend educational reform as the key toalleviating such barriers and concerns however, since for the last two centuries

Muslim scholars and intellectuals have been talking about such reform. Clearly,the extent of repetition directly correlates with the magnitude of the problem.

Throughout the 20th century, many scholars have argued that traditionalreligious schools should offer a more integrated education, including modernscientific subjects such as IT in their curriculum. In this respect, Zahid (1981)states that Muslims 'must create institutions where the education of the Quran,Hadith, and Shariah, goes side by side with the education of mathematics,physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, engineering, economics, and othersciences' (p. 92). In addition, there is a need to enhance the language abilities ofstudents enrolled in traditional religious schools, to better equip them to access

information from both Islamic and non-Islamic traditions.

At the tertiary level, there is a greater need to apply and incorporate ITinto the education curriculum. Essentially, the successful integration of IT intothe Islamic disciplines is dependent upon two primary factors. The first factorrequired is the development of the physical infrastructure to enable bothacademic staff and students in the Islamic fields to access and utilise suchtechnology. While governments can play a role in financing and supporting suchventures, limited resources often means that greater efforts must be made to getthe private sector to play a larger role. Awkaf (Islamic endowment funds) can alsobe used towards this end.

A second necessary factor for the successful integration of IT into theIslamic disciplines is the creation of greater interest and awareness amongscholars in Islamic studies about the benefits and possibilities of IT and itsapplications, in the field of Islamic studies. In this respect, departments shouldhold workshops and seminars on IT, given by experts in the field, who are able totalk in non-technical language.

In addition to generating awareness, introductory and upgrading coursesin computer literacy and IT is essential for both staff and students in the Islamicfields. There is no point talking about integrating IT into the curriculum and

hailing the benefits of IT, without showing religious scholars how to use andbenefit from such technology. Particularly in the early stages, it is important thatIT technicians are easily accessible to trouble-shoot, so that Islamic scholars will be able to develop confidence. With greater hands on-experience, Islamicscholars will feel more at ease about IT and consequently will be more inclined tointegrate it into their teaching methodologies.


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IT presents a fantastic opportunity for Islamic scholars to develop a varietyof programs to assist students in learning about their Islamic heritage. In thisregard, scholars should be encouraged to join courses with technicians in theDepartments of Information Technology to develop and design software that not

only meets their own research needs, but the educational needs of their studentsas well. Islamic scholars that are more ambitious should be given training on howto create and develop their own Web page. In so doing, they would no longer be'passive consumers' of 'foreign technology', but pro-actively shaping and adaptingtechnology to suit the needs of their discipline and the ummah in general. Somescholars such as Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi have already established sites whichcover multi-dimensional issues on Islam.

The facility and ease with which Islamic scholars can communicate usingIT, will enable them to exchange ideas and information with other scholars onhow to build attractive Web sites, create chat and discussion groups, question

and answer sessions, etc. In fact, as more and more reputable Islamic scholarstake advantage of the opportunities IT presents, greater pressure will be put oninauthentic Islamic sites devoted to disseminating misinformation or deviationistteachings on Islam, since Islamic scholars will be able to use IT to counter andrefute deviationist teachings.

By adopting a positive mental attitude toward the possibilities of IT andusing it to serve their interests, ulama would not have to be worried about losingtheir traditional authority to 'pop shops' disseminating advice in the name ofIslam. Instead, they can use IT to enhance their own respect and legitimacy in theummah, by widening the base of their appeal to the more technological literate

youth.

As far as unreliable and inauthentic Islamic sites are concerned, Khan andKhan (1999) argue that there is a greater need to monitor information on Islamso that fabricated and misleading information can be easily identified. They alsorecommend developing a mechanism of certification and authentication forIslamic sites disseminating info on Islam, particularly those that use Quran anddubious Hadith to support their views. Ahmad (1999) suggests that such sitescould obtain approval from well-known Islamic organisations, in a similarmanner that halal certification is required for food products.

This article has examined IT from an Islamic perspective. It has shownthat there is nothing intrinsically in the Quran and hadith that prohibit thedevelopment, use and adaptation of IT. On the contrary, it was argued that Islamplaces tremendous emphasis on the acquisition of knowledge towards nobleends. In this respect, IT is simply a means of acquiring information andultimately knowledge. Like all technology, it can be used for both positive andnegative purposes. It is up to Muslims to use revelational guidance and their ownrational and sensual faculties to discern the difference between the two.


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and gentle, students of the University. For me as Chancellor of University, It isindeed a privilege to preside over this convocation. This is also a proud momentfor the University that three distinguished personalities of contemporary historyare being graced with doctorate of philosophy. The University feel honors to

present the doctorate degree with respect for their meritorious services. I alsofacilitate all students getting degree on completion of their studies.

Muslim world is passing through a very difficult phase of its history.Internally, if we look at ourselves, It displays poverty, illiteracy, social backwardness most of all intellectual stagnation. These basic problems latelybeen aggravated by the phenomena of religious intolerance, and political violencebeing practice by minority whom I call radicals. Their activities grossly distort,image of Islam and greatly harm the cause of the Muslims. Islam is beinghijacked by these militants, illiterate and unenlightened minority. The minoritythat only knows and preach rituals instead of real core values of our Din Islam.

They know and talk only of Haqooqullah. They dont practice and dont want topropagate Haqqoulabad, emancipation of human character of self.Responsibilities of a Muslim to family his society, his nation and indeed entireUmmah. We need to curb this obscurantism and correct our direction. We mustremove the yoke of dominance of unenlightened extremist and have the moderateenlightened Islam prevail in our society and the Ummah. Fifty seven out of the191 countries of the world are Muslims belong to Ummah. We posses 70 per centof world energy resources. We also posses 40 per cent of the worlds raw material.In spite of all this our share of global trade is only 5 per cent or six per cent. Ourcollective GDP of whole Ummah is less than five per cent of world GDP. 22 of 49least developed countries of the world are Muslims. Why this dismal picture is

question that comes to any thinking Muslim mind. We are left behind knowledge.We are left behind in technological development, in science and technologyspecially. We have left the fruits of industrial revolution to bypass us. The MuslimUmmah entered the 21st century, ladies and gentlemen in this very abject state ofilliteracy, poverty and backwardness, at the same time confronting externalaccusation against us. We have to chart our course in turbulent world, today within state, within internal external state of ours, hostile perception of our religion.Quite clearly we have two choices to pick from, firstly confrontationist approachand secondly reconciliatory or reformatory approach. I am convinced that formerconfrontationist approach will lead us possible destruction and marginalization.Latter will give us hope of regaining lost glory. The glory that we were in, panicle

that we were act in middle up to fifteen century. The fact remains that religiousintolerance and militancy of extremist fringe among Muslims and unabatedmaligning of Islam in western media is giving rise to growing misperceptionsabout Islam. So the Fault lies internally as well as externally.

Persistent efforts are needed to deal with this problem. Both in Muslimsociety and externally where true image of Islam needs to be projected world atlarge. I am inviting the attention of Muslim Ummah to develop new paradigm for


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responding to challenges being faced by Muslims today. In order to develop sucha paradigm, new revolutionary strategy is needed. The proposed strategy shouldbe based on enlightening moderation. It focuses on adopting a middle course,free from all kinds of religious extremism, ultra westernization as well as ultra

traditionism. I have proposed the strategy of enlightening moderation, as a twoprong strategy. One prong to be delivered by Muslim Ummah, Very briefly ofrejecting extremism and terrorism going on path of socio economicemancipation.

Other prong which must be has to be delivered by the West, of resolvingthe political disputes which confronts Muslim world, and also helping theUmmah in socio economic emancipation and development. I must say TheUmmah must use the vehicle of OIC to meet the demands of strategy ofenlightened moderation and meet the demands the challenges of 21st century.We must restructure OIC. Ladies and Gentlemen turning your attention towards

Pakistan, We aced a triple menaced of religious extremism. This is the categorywhich is using religion to perpetrate acts of terrorism like the bomb blast, suicideattacks etc. Second menace of religious extremism, this is the class fixed rigidviews and believe in imposing those views on others through force. Third menacewe faced is sectarian extremism and terrorism. I think Pakistan is among fewcountries of the Ummah which faces all three menaces in one. We have tostrategies separately to combat each of these menaces. Terrorism is to becombated ruthlessly with force. Religious and sectarian extremism is to be metwith soothing prudent approach. We have to replace instigation of hate, angerand militancy in some of our mosques madrasas and print material withpropagation of peace, tolerance and understanding

SOCIAL CHALLENGES:

Challenges in the future for the Women:

what do we mean when we talk about social responsibility? And socialresponsibility toward+-s whom? In a world dominated by hegemonic social,political and economic influences, compounded by the power of an increasinglyechnological global age, discussions around the notion of social responsibilityneed to start with questions of definition. Are we talking about individualresponses, a general sense of community (both global and local), rights andresponsibilities as members of particular nation-states, or as members of a globalUmmah? What do we expect from those institutions and structures that areintended to protect and respond to our needs? What do we expect from othermembers of our communities, both real and imagined, Muslim and non-Muslim?What do we expect from ourselves?

Clearly, the above set of questions are not exhaustive or restricted toMuslim communities, but raise another important theoretical issue, and that is to


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consider whether such questions are even necessary. The wide range of papersand the response to this years Conference theme, would indicate that such adebate is now inevitable as it is essential, and that these questions can beaddressed within both secular and spiritual contexts and discourses. In Islam,

one of the primary aims of the Shariah (al-Maqasid) is the maintenance of justice and the creation of a fair, enlightened and dynamic society. The earlyMuslims understood this well and set out to build a civilisation where justice wasnot to be compromised, the search for knowledge and enlightenment was theelevated pursuit of life, and community development and welfare was theultimate consideration in ijtihad and law-making. The good and virtuous societywas the objective of all andfor the benefit of all,Muslim and non-Muslim. Indeed, the concepts of social responsibilities.

The End

Documents

18642143 Challenges Faced by the Muslilm Ummah in the 21st Centuary